Pope John I

Pope John I (470-18 May 526) was the pope from 523 to 526, succeeding Pope Hormisdas and preceding Pope Felix IV.

Biography
Ioannes was born in 470 AD in Siena, Chiusdino, Italy, which was under the control of the Western Roman Empire. Ioannes was originally a heretic, supporting Antipope Laurentius and opposing Pope Symmachus in the early 6th century. He was elected "Pope John I" in 523, and he succeeded Pope Hormisdas on his death, although he was frail at the time. He was sent by King Theodoric the Great, a believer in Arianism, to convince Emperor Justin I of Byzantium to ease up on his decrees against Arians; if John failed, the non-Arian orthodox Catholics would face reprisals. John convinced Justin to accept all of Theodoric's demands except for the conversion of the formerly-Arian Catholics in the empire back to Arianism. When John returned to Ravenna, the capital, he was arrested by Theodoric, and he died of neglect and ill-treatment in 526.